Hugh Dancy and Aaron Paul know a thing or two about acting in intense dramas loaded with moral and psychological complexity. Though “Hannibal” was rooted in horror, and “Breaking Bad” was more of an antihero thriller, Dancy and Paul each showed great facility at playing well-intentioned characters inextricably connected to men riddled with dark and self-serving impulses. Thus it’s exciting at first to watch these actors circle each other in a new Hulu drama that has Dancy playing the troubled leader of a cult and Paul as a prominent member of the group who begins to have serious doubts. Unfortunately, “The Path” ends up being so diffident and tentative that it’s hard to recommend that potential viewers take a leap of faith.

Though the mistrust between Cal (Dancy) and Eddie (Paul) forms the core of the story, other central elements of “The Path” revolve around a third character, Michelle Monaghan’s Sarah, who is married to Eddie. Sarah is often written so blandly and predictably that she fades in comparison to Eddie and Cal; that said, only the charisma and crackling empathy of Paul and Dancy lift Eddie and Paul above the generally hollow characterizations that litter this ambitious but ultimately frustrating drama